The techniques people often use…

Competition – this is a good thing BUT it’s good to realise that it doesn’t work for all students. The reality is, the only person who is truly motivated by competition is the student who thinks he/she has a chance of winning!

Rewards don’t always work either, especially if the student is having difficulty. All reward systems are based on the concept that the student CAN DO IT, but what if they just choose NOT TO, that’s great if you know they’re not really trying.

Punishment is not normally a very effective way because it takes the student’s favourite thing, whether it be a football or a skateboard, and takes it away from them when they’re bad. In the adult world, marriages can break up over sex or money, and because one spouse takes something that the other spouse wants and uses it to manipulate the other person. You’re basically saying “I’ll give it to you when you’re good, and I won’t when you’re bad.” So if it doesn’t work with adults, maybe it might not be all that effective with kids?

So, what do I do to motivate??

The NINE RULES I use to motivate students are inspired by the author Richard Lovoie.

1. Play – have fun, enjoy, enthuse and bring energy to the room. “No-one ever achieved anything without enthusiasm” – Emerson.
2. Personal – School is about life…

• Indulge your students and listen to their stories.
• Indulge yourself – share your stories with them… if it benefits them.

3. Provoke – ask questions about life; ask questions about the topic – it gets them to think. It’s powerful when they get to see things through their own minds !
4. Praise – catch people doing things right. Be focused on praise BUT be specific and sincere. The praise should be focused on effort and improvement – this is always effective. We all need to feel good enough.
5. Power – let your students determine some of the agenda or make certain rules. This gets them feeling like they’re ‘in charge’; without you losing control.
6. Projects – these are very powerful mechanisms for connecting different skills and knowledge and harnessing natural curiosity.
7. Positive People – this gets them to learn quickly how to behave in a positive manner.
8. Prizes – rewards can be powerful when they are unannounced and not too familiar. Prizes can be as innocuous or as humorous as you like.
9. Prestige – all students need to feel important – some more than others – so prestige and recognition are fundamental. Consistent encouragement and opportunities to showcase talent are important.

That’s it!

These techniques are NOT magic as you can see; they’re just ways of keeping people focused when their natural attention wanes. Overall, it’s incredibly powerful, it’s effective and…

…it’s a lot of fun!!